Piano Bar

[Heimey]

I am wondering if there is a way of finding out who the host is in the piano bars. We are cruising the Horizon Mar 2nd. if anybody knows who it is or can push me in the right direction that would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you so much in advance,

 

Heimey

Edited February 19 by Heimey

[mz-s]

https://www.saintgregtravel.com/piano-bar-schedule/

[joe/jack]

2 hours ago, mz-s said:

https://www.saintgregtravel.com/piano-bar-schedule/

Yes St Greg does a great job keeping the Piano Bar schedule updated and my wife appreciates it very much!!! 

[Heimey]

On 2/19/2024 at 1:38 PM, joe/jack said:

Yes St Greg does a great job keeping the Piano Bar schedule updated and my wife appreciates it very much!!! 

 

On 2/19/2024 at 10:45 AM, mz-s said:

https://www.saintgregtravel.com/piano-bar-schedule/

Thank you very much. We looked him up. He looks like a fun guy. 
 

looking forward to it. 
 

Heimey

[staceyglow]

I used to really enjoy the piano bar.  Now, not so much.

 

With a few exceptions, I don't think the musicians are as talented as I have experienced in the past.  Often there are a handful of cruisers who take over all of the good seats every night and monopolize the song requests.

 

And while I love the international aspect of the entertainment staff on Carnival, the last time I visited a piano bar, the performer's accent was so heavy, I was having trouble understanding what he was saying/singing.  He also distributed a rather limited list of songs, and apparently only wanted to take requests from that list.

[Sgwscruiser]

On 2/20/2024 at 6:06 PM, staceyglow said:

I used to really enjoy the piano bar.  Now, not so much.

 

With a few exceptions, I don't think the musicians are as talented as I have experienced in the past.  Often there are a handful of cruisers who take over all of the good seats every night and monopolize the song requests.

 

And while I love the international aspect of the entertainment staff on Carnival, the last time I visited a piano bar, the performer's accent was so heavy, I was having trouble understanding what he was saying/singing.  He also distributed a rather limited list of songs, and apparently only wanted to take requests from that list.

As one of the handful of cruisers that take up all the good seats, you can always get to the piano Bar Earlier.  We usually get to the venue 45-60 minutes before stated start time so we get the seats we want. 

[mfs2k]

On 2/20/2024 at 7:06 PM, staceyglow said:

Often there are a handful of cruisers who take over all of the good seats every night and monopolize the song requests.

The funny thing is every cruise has different passengers. 
It sounds like the ones with the good seats and the song requests really want to be there,  are into it and having fun. 
Maybe you should just get there earlier if you want to have as much fun as they’re having. 

[Hoosierpop]

Piano bar is hit or miss for me depending on the entertainer. Mostly miss. But the piano bar regulars can crack me up. People making fun of non regulars asking for Sweet Caroline and then requesting that god awful Alice song like it’s some cool kid inside joke. It’s not. It’s terrible. 

[TBMVette]

The guy on Celebration was unwatchable.  

[Hoosierpop]

38 minutes ago, TBMVette said:

The guy on Celebration was unwatchable.  

If you mean the guy who is on there now, he was unwatchable. Because it was so crowded. By far the best piano bar entertainer. Even though he did play the Alice song. But hey, if people are going to pay him to play it, I’m not gonna argue. 

[staceyglow]

10 hours ago, Sgwscruiser said:

  We usually get to the venue 45-60 minutes before stated start time so we get the seats we want. 

Yeah, I am not doing that. Especially to listen to mediocre talent. 

[Butterbean1000]

30 minutes ago, staceyglow said:

Yeah, I am not doing that. Especially to listen to mediocre talent. 

I've been to several piano bars on several ships.  We never stay long because we are underwhelmed with the talent. Then you have a bunch of passengers with alchohol fueled singing and well, you know.  I am not finding fault with either because people are having fun.  It's just not our kind of fun.

[jsglow]

15 minutes ago, Butterbean1000 said:

I've been to several piano bars on several ships.  We never stay long because we are underwhelmed with the talent. Then you have a bunch of passengers with alchohol fueled singing and well, you know.  I am not finding fault with either because people are having fun.  It's just not our kind of fun.

That's the thing for me. I could care less about getting any particular seat. The issue for me is that the room is routinely dominated by a half dozen overserved 'regulars' who essentially control the entertainment and think they run the place. It makes for an unwelcoming environment at times. Not their fault really. The piano player should more effectively control that with 'Alright Janet and Bob.... let's let these new folks make a few suggestions' but the problem is he/she is tip driven and a financial relationship builds through the week. We give it a try most cruises but have found it to be our least favorite music venue.

[ober134]

1 hour ago, Hoosierpop said:

If you mean the guy who is on there now, he was unwatchable. Because it was so crowded. By far the best piano bar entertainer. Even though he did play the Alice song. But hey, if people are going to pay him to play it, I’m not gonna argue. 

For one of the largest CCL ships, this venue is far too small.

[joe/jack]

5 hours ago, Hoosierpop said:

Piano bar is hit or miss for me depending on the entertainer. Mostly miss. But the piano bar regulars can crack me up. People making fun of non regulars asking for Sweet Caroline and then requesting that god awful Alice song like it’s some cool kid inside joke. It’s not. It’s terrible. 

Eden Parker who is currently on Mardi Gras

he and Jeffery Monk are probably the 

most talented Plano Bar players that

Carnival has to offer.   Facebook has there

blogs. 

[Hoosierpop]

6 minutes ago, joe/jack said:

Eden Parker who is currently on Mardi Gras

he and Jeffery Monk are probably the 

most talented Plano Bar players that

Carnival has to offer.   Facebook has there

blogs. 

I’ve seen them. Talent is fine. Entertaining is more important to me. But that part is super subjective. I’m not going to judge who people like to see. Lots of the soloist around the ships are very talented. Some are very entertaining. 

[Hoosierpop]

2 hours ago, ober134 said:

For one of the largest CCL ships, this venue is far too small.

Agree. This last week, people were lined up at 8:15 to get in and the doors weren’t even open until shortly before 9:00. If you didn’t get a seat then, you were standing. And there were a ton of people standing.

[pc_load_letter]

In about twenty cruises we've only walked out on one piano bar player. He was talented but he would just talk and talk and talk.

 

The best we've had was on Splendor. He was a young kid and put on an amazing show. The sad thing was that the venue was a shoebox. People were spilled out into the hallway to listen.

 

Then I think it was Panorama or maybe Radiance last year, the comedian also played the guitar and later in the night he came by the piano bar and played a number of songs with the piano player. Was a great time.

 

The feel the venues are often just waaaaayyyyyy to small. Word gets out by the second night and it's standing room only and clearly not big enough for the crowd.

 

Loved the piano bar on the NCL Bliss. It was in their brewery, the District Brew House, with dozens of taps. I don't think I've ever drank so much beer in my life!

[Buckeye_Siggy]

Alice? who dat?

[Buckeye_Siggy]

except for that idiot who asked about Alice -  every other post in here is about spot on.

The piano bar is sometimes by favorite place to be on the cruise if the entertainer is great and the crowd is good.  There can be people who hog the seats around the entertainer for the entirety of the cruise but they usually are the ones tipping the most and buying shots for said entertainer. there are some really poor performers who keep me and the wife out of the piano bar after the first night. there are others that allow my wife to sing along multiple times during the week with a mic and it makes her trip.  To each their own.   

 

[Mike45LC]

9 minutes ago, Buckeye_Siggy said:

Alice? who dat?

Exactly my thought! 

 

Is this a reference to White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane? "Go ask Alice" is one line.  Maybe a reference to an Alice Cooper song?  As Buckeye said, "Alice?  Who dat?"

 

[staceyglow]

31 minutes ago, Mike45LC said:

Exactly my thought! 

 

Is this a reference to White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane? "Go ask Alice" is one line.  Maybe a reference to an Alice Cooper song?  As Buckeye said, "Alice?  Who dat?"

 

It's this song (warning- offensive language):

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gudDmgr1H3o&ab_channel=DiegoGilNavarro

 

 

Believe it or not, the first time I heard this version of the song was in Munich during Starkbierfest - and it was performed by a polka band.

[Mike45LC]

Thanks, Stacy.  I can see a rowdy crowd on Carnival getting all excited about yelling out the f-bomb.  Immature drunken idiots! 

 

Not my music; I much prefer Jefferson Airplane's White Rabbit.  Or Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant -- "Walk right in, it's around the back, just a half a mile from the railroad track..."  

[simplelife]

On our last cruise the piano bar just became another Karaoke venue (with live piano instead of tapes) with indivudual guests requesting and singing songs solo.

[EllieinNJ]

We just came off the Venezia and Dara in the piano bar had a good voice but she was very raunchy while speaking.  I don't mind some adult talk and enjoy the late night comedians but she spoke from the gutter